In the leadership dispute in the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), the former CSU member of parliament, forest owner and forest entrepreneur Ludwig von Lerchenfeld has submitted his candidacy for the presidency. “The situation in our hunting association is not good at all,” says Lerchenfeld. “But I want our hunting association to do well.” That’s why he’s ready as a candidate for the top office.
“It must no longer be the case that we attract attention in public primarily through internal disputes and threatening manners,” says Lerchenfeld. “Our hunting association looks back on a long and great tradition, we have immense competence in hunting, game and forest in our district groups.” With Lerchenfeld’s statement, the controversial Jäger President and CSU member of the state parliament, Ernst Weidenbusch, now officially has a competitor for the leadership position. Observers speak of a great opportunity to replace Weidenbusch and to settle the internal quarrels.
A wild argument about Weidenbusch’s management style has been raging in the BJV for weeks. The critics accuse the hunter president of being extremely rude in his dealings with all of the organization’s volunteers and full-time employees, who have a different world view than he does. A number of full-time employees are said to have resigned from the office of the BJV in Munich-Feldkirchen because they no longer wanted to accept this type of treatment. A number of hunters have therefore left the BJV, including prominent figures such as Philipp zu Guttenberg. The younger brother of former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who owns extensive forests in Franconia and Austria, has a good reputation as a passionate hunter in the hunting and forest scene.
The BJV is not only internally at odds. But it is also isolated from the outside. His relationship with the organizations of forest owners and farmers, but also with environmental organizations and the forest administration right up to the Ministry of Agriculture is considered to be broken. Experts accuse Weidenbusch and his management team of not only making no contribution to the forests thriving in the climate crisis with their traditional ideas of hunting, but even torpedoing the overdue forest conversion. With its 160 district groups and 50,000 members, the hunting association is by far the largest professional representation of hunters in Bavaria. Approximately two thirds of the hunting license holders in the Free State are organized in it.
“Confrontation and selfishness are not an option”
Lerchenfeld is convinced that the hunting association is “in the midst of the greatest crisis since it was founded in 1949 and (…) is even threatening to break up”. You can read about it in a letter he wrote to the heads of the BJV district groups these days. In order to prevent a break-up, “a fresh start is needed in terms of personnel,” it continues. That’s why he’s running for the position of President.
The hunting association must finally appear united and strong again, “i.e. speak with a purposeful voice”. These included “trust, objectivity and honesty”. Good cooperation with the other rural organizations is also needed. “Confrontation and selfishness on the part of individual interest groups are not an option for overcoming the challenges ahead.”
Lerchenfeld, born in 1957, comes from the noble family of the same name and studied law. For a good 30 years he has been running his family’s forestry business, which, in addition to extensive forests in the Kulmbach region, also includes a sawmill, furniture restoration, a wine shop and even a small ski lift. The scion has been involved in local politics for many years, he was a member of the state parliament for the CSU from 2011 to 2018 and holds numerous honorary posts. So far he has only been a simple member of the BJV, but for many years. He is also considered to be very well versed in hunting and forestry issues and, moreover, to have a balancing nature.
Weidenbusch has always rejected the allegations against himself and his management style. He categorically rejected calls for his resignation. Now he doesn’t comment anymore. He and the press office of the BJV leave unanswered questions about the demand for a new election of the hunter president. The Jäger President was only confirmed in office in April 2022. Even then there were allegations against him. This is probably one of the reasons why his result was extremely close. Of the 622 delegates, just over half voted for him. In the meantime, the situation has gotten so bad that a number of district groups are calling for an extraordinary state assembly to be called, at which Weidenbusch is to be voted out of office. Apparently they have fulfilled the formal requirements for this. So far, however, there has been no signal that Weidenbusch accepts the demand. Therefore, according to information from the SZ, work is being done to force the extraordinary state assembly.